In 1996, a little over a year after the sensational success of the board game "The Settlers of Catan," the "Catan Card Game" (for 2 players) was published. Originally, the game was designed as an answer to the request of many players who also wanted to be able to enjoy the Settlers of Catan as a 2-player game. Soon, however, the game developed a life of its own: expansions were added that led the Card Game further and further away from the Catan Basic Game, made it more complex, and brought it thematically closer to - and, in part, even beyond - Cities & Knights.

For the fans of the complex Card Game, this was great - but newcomers who, having the background of the Board Game, now also wanted to learn the Card Game had a hard time getting started.

For Klaus Teuber, this was reason enough to completely revise the Card Game, right before its 15th anniversary.

"The Princes of Catan" (working title of the revised Catan Card Game) will make it considerably easier for players to get started with the game. The game features a reduced card pool that does not include aggressive actions and where each card may be used without restriction from the first round on. Against this backdrop, newcomers learn the basic game rules: building roads and settlements and filling the settlements with expansions.

Step by step - following a modular system - three Theme Games subsequently add more rules, city expansions, and aggressive cards. The Theme Games may be combined in a new variant, the Duel of the Princes - and, of course, in the Champions League of the Tournament Game.

The game revision is accompanied by a new thematic classification. While the whole storyline of the Card Game developed in a feudal world of the late Middle Ages so far, we now experience different eras on Catan that go from the Introductory Game to the Theme Games. In the Introductory Game, we are still in Catan's early period; the Theme Games, then, show segments from other, later Catanian periods.
The graphic design of "The Princes of Catan" is provided by Michael Menzel, which means that the Card Game revision will also be a visual treat for all Catan fans!

"The Princes of Catan" will be published in September of 2010. In his upcoming blog entries, Klaus Teuber will give an account of how this game came about, and we'll also release some teasers. Please visit our blog and read the first part of Klaus Teuber's Card Game article.